After reading a review by Janet Maislin in the NY Times on-line of October 5, 2008, I added Ron Rash's fourth novel, "Serena", to my "to read" list. There it sat for a few months shy of 3 years. Many titles have since been added by retractable ball point pens to this 8 1/2" x 11" standard sheet of printer paper. Quite a few have been crossed out. Serena remained. More titles have been added to the back of the paper. I fold the list into 1/8th of its size and stick it in my back pocket every time I go to a library or book store. There are some tiny holes along some of the creases.
Maislin's review of Serena was titled "Couple creates an empire by felling trees and anyone in their way". With that enticing lead in, how did I wait so long to read it? All the book reader's cliches apply: a real page turner, couldn't put it down, etc. But don't just take my word for it. Read Maislin's and some of the other reviews on line. Serena's 370 pages were gone before I knew it. I confess that I did put it down a few times since I read it over 3 or 4 days.
I won't give away the story but it takes place primarily in western North Carolina at the beginning of the Depression. You might guess from the title where the real power resided in the relationship of this power couple invading the mountainous Carolina woods. Some reviewers likened the wife Serena to Lady MacBeth. Besides the main story, we are told that a battle was going on between timber interests and those favoring the creation of what became the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The big losers in these business affairs, besides Serena's competitors, were the workers who faced death and serious injury on a daily basis, something that was of little concern to the timber barons. If you got hurt and couldn't work, you were discarded with no compensation.
I'll have to check out Ron Rash's other novels and short stories. He has also written some poetry which may be of interest to some.
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